What I'm Reading...

The history of ideas is a history of gradually discarding the assumption that it’s all about us.

Paul Graham, See Randomness

You can only find out what you actually believe (rather than what you think you believe) by watching how you act.

Jordan Peterson, 12 Rules for Life, p. 101

Our ego gets in the way of capitalizing on the margin of safety that is produced by knowing more than you need to. Often we learn enough to solve today’s problem but not enough to solve tomorrow’s. There is no margin of safety in what we know. Another way our ego gets in the way is that we tend to coast on our natural strengths, too afraid or intimidated to dive into being the worst at something. But as Hadfield explains, “Early success is a terrible teacher. You’re essentially being rewarded for a lack of preparation, so when you find yourself in a situation where you must prepare, you can’t do it. You don’t know how.” And life will throw at you challenges that require capabilities outside your natural strengths. The only way to be ready is to first build as vast a repertoire of knowledge as you can in anticipation of the possibilities you might face, and second to cultivate the ability to know what is relevant and useful.

-- The Great Mental Models, Vol. 3, Rhiannon Beaubien and Rosie Leizrowice, p. 90 (inner quote from An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, by Chris Hadfield.

Explanation settles issues, showing that matters must end as they have. Narrative raises issues, showing that matters do not end as they must but as they do. Explanations sets the need for further inquiry aside; narrative invites us to rethink what we thought we knew.

-- James P. Carse, Finite and Infinite Games, n. 73

As one achieves focus, the mind quiets. As the mind is kept in the present, it becomes calm. Focus means keeping the mind now and here. Relaxed concentration is the supreme art because no art can be achieved without it, while with it, much can be achieved. One cannot reach the limit of one’s potential in tennis or any endeavor without learning it; what is even more compelling is that tennis can be a marvelous medium through which skill in focus of mind can be developed. By learning to focus while playing tennis, one develops a skill that can heighten performance in every other aspect of life.

-- Timothy Gallwey, The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance (p. 83)